I fight with de handle of my little brown broom:
The Beatles ‘Now and Then’ - nice, but not memorable; good, but far from great. Predictably, it bears John’s ‘Double Fantasy’ domestic bliss vibe. In fact, only Harrison’s slide break hides the fact that, despite the hype, this is little more than a Lennon solo outtake;
David Bowie ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars’ - a perfect creation that I need to hear regularly for my well-being and sanity. Just like:
Robert Wyatt ‘Rock Bottom’ - a work of pure, unfettered, unmatched genius. Nothing, NOTHING, sounds anything like this;
Radiohead ‘I Want None Of This’ - another of Radiohead’s one-off tracks, this time from the noughties. Slow, dirgey and delicious;
Radiohead ‘The King Of Limbs’ - a record to admire rather than love, I reckon. Some of the robotic rhythms are too disjointed for the songs, especially on the opening ‘Bloom’;
Mogwai ‘As The Love Continues’ - Mogwai’s records have an uncanny knack of both soothing and disturbing, sometimes within the same track. They deserve more veneration than they get. Exhibit A;
Brian Eno ‘Music for Installations’ - well, not the whole thing, but the two beautiful pieces that make up ‘Lightness - Music for the Marble Palace’ which may just be my favourite thing the great man has ever created;
The Wedding Present ‘Valentina’ - David Gedge’s last great record. Yeah, I’ve got the Cinerama version of this but much prefer the original;
The Band ‘Music From Big Pink’ - an album I like - quite a lot, but not as much as critical opinion suggests I should. But then, I feel the same about ‘Blonde On Blonde’;
Gong ‘Flying Teapot’, ‘Angel’s Egg’ & ‘You’ - heard in sequence, not only does the Radio Gnome concept start to make some sort of weird sense but the music seems to rise in intensity until the ultimate comedown of ‘You’s’ long, last song. That the band’s rhythm section changed between the first two volumes matters not a jot: this HAS to be heard in its entirety - and, where possible, via Simon Heyworth’s fab 2018 remasters;
Sandy Denny ‘Like an Old Fashioned Waltz’ - full appreciation of which has only come with old age, though I’ve always loved the songs. I still think the string arrangements are OTT but my, that voice;
Lefty Frizzell ‘Life’s Like Poetry’ - and here’s another inimitable larynx silenced too soon. Lefty’s last recordings saw him still in great vocal form even if, Elvis-like, he’d grown bloated and worn. You and me both, mate;
Charley Pride ‘The Best There Is’ - like most established artists, Charley Pride had a disappointing 80s, as this mediocre album exemplifies. Still, there was always that voice;
Marc Johnson’s Bass Desires ‘Second Sight’ - one of ECM’s more guitar oriented albums, with John Scofield and Bill Frisell harmonising and sparring licks and riffs between them. Most diggable;
Christy Doran’s New Bag ‘Heaven Is Back On The Streets’ - few fusion records sound like this. Mahavishnu meets Primus? Naah. I can’t begin to describe it, but I do like it. Stream the weird 19 minute ‘Bastard’ and make your own mind up;
Debussy: Pour le piano (Steven Osbourne) - expertly played new recording of one of Debussy’s piano masterpieces;
Dietrich Wagler ‘Great European Organs 24’ - thoroughly satisfying recital of French, German and Danish baroque music played on the mighty Frieberg Dom organ;
Liszt: Piano Concerto no.1 (Arthur Rubinstein/Dallas SO/Antal Dorati) - ancient recording of a dynamic performance;
Beethoven: Symphony no.2 (Tafelmusik/Bruno Weil) - decent run through, on authentic instruments, of Beethoven’s delightful Second;
Dvorak: Symphony no.7 (Concertgebouw/Carlo Maria Giulini) - like most of Giulini’s later records, this swaps excitement for grandeur;
Mozart: Symphony no.41 ‘Jupiter’ (BRSO/Rafael Kubelik) - live recording from May 1985, measured yet rhythmically alive. Old school Mozart playing rarely gets better than this;
Haydn: Symphony no.102 (Cologne RSO/Rafael Kubelik) - more Kubelik magic, this time from 1961. One of those performances it’s hard to criticise because it just feels… right;
Bruckner: Symphony no.9 (BRSO/Eugen Jochum) - Jochum’s 1954 recording features a faster than usual Scherzo and a superbly dreamy Adagio;
Brahms: Piano Quartet no.2, Op.26 (Beaux Arts Trio & Walter Trampler) - idiomatic performance of one of Brahms’ sunnier chamber works;
Various ‘Mozart Opera Gala’ - from part of DG’s 1950s Mozart Edition, expanded for CD in 2005. This is a reminder of the label’s high artistic standard and sonic excellence in the early days of vinyl. And a very enjoyable selection of sublime Mozart music too.
Why don’t you try?
Good vibes to all
Dave x
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